


Someone Else's War

by LeeJeann



Category: RWBY
Genre: At like 3am, and now it's after 9am and I've written a full one-shot I just asdkjhfa, because i thought too much about it once and finally just wrote it down, if you make it through all the blocks of text at the beginning Bless you, this is another 'i wrote this in one sitting and i'm throwing it to the wind' stories, this is basically my take on Ozpin's "hey there's a voice in my head now wtf" moment, this started as me writing a SINGLE LINE that i didn't want to forget, why am i like this but ANyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25465633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeJeann/pseuds/LeeJeann
Summary: Months ago I had a thought like "We saw some of Oscar's initial reaction to Ozpin reincarnating to him. I wonder what that moment was like for Ozpin when HE suddenly had another voice, probs the King of Vale, in his head" so I wrote it.Potential triggers are explained in the notes at the start.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Someone Else's War

**Author's Note:**

> There aren't graphic descriptions of violence, but like this does involve a flashback to the Great War, specifically the final battle that is described as being devastating in the WoR video about it. So there ARE mentions/implications of blood and death as you'd expect with a hazy description of a battle. And a panic attack that's caused by it.
> 
> TL;DR: mild tw for mentions of blood/death/war, also nightmares and panic attacks/anxiety stuff
> 
>   
> Also, context on the timeline I have in my head for this: The Great War ended 80 years before RWBY starts. I'm assuming Ozpin was like in his 40s when RWBY starts and was in his teens when he became a "host" I guess (I said 16 in this just to have a specific age). I also assumes the last incarnation was the King of Vale and that, like Ozpin, he rose to power fairly young and wasn't that old in the war. Lives like 50ish years after the war, then takes another 5-7 years to reincarnate (since when Ozpin reincarnates in under a year and Salem and Co. are really surprised, I assume it usually takes MUCH longer). 
> 
> Idk if that makes ANY sense or if I even needed that explanation, but I spent forEVER trying to piece together a timeline that made sense in my head for my writing's sake and wanted to share it just because. If you genuinely want to know but that ^^ was just confusing, feel free to ask and I'll try to explain better.

* * *

When Ozpin was 16, he started having the most vivid dreams he'd ever experienced. They weren't very often at first, but he always had to shake off the feeling of them when he woke up. They just seemed so real. Some were mundane: images of a family that seemed to be his despite looking nothing like him, bustling, lively versions of the old abandoned settlements whose names he saw in his history class that day. Others were more like nightmares. He had vivid encounters with whatever Grimm he'd learned about that week, even if he'd never seen one. Bright flashes of light, some good, some destructive. A feeling of power far greater than any semblance he'd ever heard of and some kind of instinctive fear to go with it.

The worst ones began about a month before the Vytal Festival that year. The older students at Remnant's combat schools attended the festival, which meant a trip to Vacuo this year, and in the weeks leading up to it their history lessons often consisted of the Great War. Underclassman often learned a little about the war but never as in-depth. Every lesson on how the tensions between nations had risen into conflict left Ozpin feeling anxious knowing how gruesome the end of the war was rumored to be. Even still, he felt very invested in listening to everything. More than he'd expected to be, if he was honest. Sometimes he would read ahead in the textbook to help keep up with the lesson next class easier.

The nightmares started getting worse with every lesson, every story, but Ozpin tried to brush it off as studying about such a war too close to bed time. Still, it always took him a while to shake off the feeling they brought in the morning. He was almost certain he knew what it felt like to die, feeling weak and fading until everything went dark. Or in his case, until he woke up. He only got a full night's sleep a couple times a week and hoped once the festival ended and class moved on to a different historical period that the nightmares would stop.

The Vytal Festival started next week, so lessons were reaching the end of the war itself so they could cover some of the aftermath before the students left for the festival. The final battle was one of legend. No one for sure knew what happened, but the war was ended. Some rumors say it was a devastating battle, Vale's army being led by the king himself, and the king unleashed an incredible power bringing the war to its end.

The more widely accepted version is that Atlas and Mistral were just severely unprepared for the harsh environment of Vacuo, which led to a devastating defeat. To Ozpin's surprised, he found that the textbook talked about _both_ versions instead of only the widely accepted one. He read through the chapters that evening since he figured they'd be discussing it within the next couple days. That night, he dreamt of it. He dreamt so horribly vivid.

* * *

The screams of soldiers, the ringing of gunshots and clashes of weapons, visions of wounded and worse. With the heat of the desert it felt like walking through a trial of fire, literally and figuratively, and he was somewhere standing in the middle of it; somewhere on the front lines. He felt a different immense power, but instead of fear he felt control. Then the battlefield felt hauntingly silent, as if he blinked and the war had ended. He lost all strength to stand upon hearing a desperate cry of surrender and collapsed into the desert sand. The feeling of relief knowing the war would finally end was overshadowed by dread and the blood now on his hands. _We didn't have a choice._

This was the only way it could've ended _. So why does it feel like we're a monster?_ In reality, the now-former battlefield wasn't actually silent at all. There were wounded calling for help, sand crunching under hurried footsteps, maybe even distant thunder, but even the sound of his own breathing was blending into the hollow wind of the desert. The winds could've buried him under the sand and he may not have noticed. All of the sound was muffled by the voice in his head. _This had to happen… no other-_ Detached was all he could feel. _Innocent lives, I couldn't save… no other choice-_

The faint sound of familiar voices, allies, called to him but couldn't steal his focus _. We had no other…_ He couldn't acknowledge them. _There was no other way_ a voice in his head kept chanting like it needed to convince them both. He knew it was true. _Needed to unite-_ He'd been left with no choice, but Gods he wished it didn't get that far _! No time to think about this now!_ If only he could've stopped it sooner. _Remnant would've destroyed itself. She would've won!_ After everything he'd fought her with we couldn't let her win like that. Not now! He had to end the war! _But this blood on our hands-_ They had to end it now! _More lives stolen, over and over and again and-_ But they couldn't let Sa-

* * *

Ozpin sat straight up as if his body already decided he needed to escape wherever he was. A wave of guilt and regret and _fear_ crashed into him as soon as he was conscious enough to feel it. The tears on his cheeks didn't feel like his own but he felt he deserved them all the same. He felt like he'd been awake for days even though he'd been sleeping for several hours by that point. It took him a few horrifying seconds to register that what he just experience wasn't real. His room was too dark and with nothing visible for his eyes to focus on he just kept seeing flickers of the nightmare. When he was awake enough to break his daze even a little he scramble to turn on a light, desperate to see _anything real_ and prove he wasn't somewhere drowning in the sands of Vacuo, something to ground himself. He didn't go back to sleep, despite now feeling exhausted. Closing his eyes for even a second only brought more images of the sands of Vacuo, stained crimson and unforgiving.

He didn't go to class that morning. The thought of sitting through a lesson about that battle felt like a death sentence. He stayed in the bedroom at his grandparent's house, where he stayed when he was attending Signal, describing ever mundane detail of the room to himself as a distraction. Once he heard his grandparents leave the house, he left for a long walk. He didn't care if he was caught skipping, or if it affected his chance to get to travel to the Vytal Festival, he just needed to be somewhere else. Honestly, he wasn't even sure he could handle traveling to Vacuo for it without the voices of lives he'd taken ringing in hi-

That _he'd_ taken? The nightmare had felt so real, as if he really _had_ ended both the war and so many lives in one afternoon. These nightmares weren't usually so hard to shake. No matter what, the feeling of those haunting desert winds followed him around every corner down every street on Patch. He couldn't shake this one or the unsettling sense of dread that was now accompanying the fear and guilt, none of which he could pinpoint a reason for. There was a different feeling in the air now, like something horrible was waiting to happen, and he seemed to be the only one who could feel it. The war had been over longer than Ozpin had been alive and yet the threat of a war paled in comparison to _whatever_ he now felt looming in the distance. _I must be going crazy_ he thought as he saw the coast of the island appear in front of him. He ran for it. Hoping to escape the dread following him or hoping the waves would drown out the screams, he wasn't sure anymore. Maybe both.

He reached the shoreline and stopped, out of breath from his sudden sprint. Where he stood was very high above the water, more like a cliff than shoreline, and he could see the coast of Vale in the distance. All at once he realized how exhausted he was, how fair he'd really walked, and that the sun was going down. He was glad he thought to grab his weapon when he left his room on the off chance any grimm were hiding on the island. No doubt they'd find him and his negativity. _It was_ just _a dream._ He felt stupid being so worked up over a nightmare. Just a nightmare, so many nightmares and fear and guilt. What was happening to him? He didn't even have the energy to lower himself to the ground and sat in the grass with a thud.

He watched over the waves for what was surely only a few minutes but could've been hours with how he felt. He'd managed to calm himself enough to think clearly but still couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was still following him. Suddenly, that feeling multiplied. Ozpin got she sense he was being watched. He wanted to just thinking it was from the mindset he was in, or that it was almost dark, but it was so strong. He held his breath and froze in place trying to see if he could hear anything, but all he could hear was the waves on the rocks below. Slowly pushing himself to his feet, he put a hand on his weapon and scanned the area around him for any glowing red eyes. He saw none, so he stayed still.

After a minute of no movement, he thought it was safe to assume it wasn't a grimm since they surely would've attacked by now. He continued to glance around the area and started to slowly move away from the edge of the short cliff. Last thing he wanted was to be knocked off if something _was_ there. After another minute he decided it would be best to just head back home. He got back into the main area of town with no issue but still felt like he wasn’t alone. The town wasn't very lively at night so the streets were mostly empty by now and that didn't entirely help.

He was nearing home when he finally heard something. It was faint, but not a whisper. Just distance. Ozpin had a hand on his weapon and turned around to see if he could spot anyone following him.

"Hello?" he said sternly, maybe a bit too much to avoid sounding as anxious as he really was. He heard the voice a little louder but couldn't quite make it out and definitely couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"What was that?" He looked around him and still saw no one.

 _"Sorry."_ Ozpin dropped the entire façade of not being afraid when he realized the voice seemed to be in his head, loud enough to understand, and Ozpin was sure he was going crazy no-

 _"You are not, I promise,"_ the voice said before Ozpin could even finish the thought.

Ozpin froze again, this time from anxiety. He had to be losing his mind. He took a deep breath before continuing to walk home. He must just need sleep. He'd exhausted himself and just needed sleep.

 _"What is your name?_ "

Ozpin ignored the voice, which he realized seemed vaguely familiar. _I need sleep, I just need to rest._

_"I understand this doesn't make sense. I am truly sorr-"_

"Stop!" Ozpin said, a bit to loudly causing the lone person across the street to give him an odd look. He ducked his head and picked up his pace. The voice stayed quiet for the rest of the 20-minute walk.

_"Is this your home?"_

"Kind of," Ozpin humored this delusion, feeling much calmer as he approached the familiar porch.

 _"It looks quite different from the ones in the city."_ Ozpin was trying to place why he recognized this voice.

"Patch is much smaller so the houses are a lot simpler," Ozpin explained, caught by a yawn halfway through his sentence. He knew he should sleep but couldn't bare the thought of another nightmare yet. Instead he decided to sit on the bench outside.

_"Have you been to the city? To Vale?"_

"Mhm, I'm from there. I stay here with my grandparents during the school year," Ozpin replied, tiredness creeping into his voice.

_"A Signal student then?"_

"Mhm." The conversation trailed off with that. Ozpin was too tired to care that he was definitely talking to a hallucination, only relieved that the horrible feelings from earlier seemed to have finally stopped. He closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze that often came off the sea at night. It was always very calming to him.

 _"You should rest."_ The voice spoke gently.

"I am," Ozpin halfheartedly gestured to the fact he was sitting down.

The voice gave a small laugh. _"I mean you should_ sleep. _It must be pretty late. Won't your grandparents worry?"_

"They know I like to sit outside at night to relax or take a break from studying. I'm not ready for another nightmare. You should know that; you're me."

 _"Not exactly. But yes, I know and I am sorry you have been dealing with that,"_ he said with such a sincerity Ozpin almost believed the voice must be real. Then it hit him.

"History class," he said suddenly. He felt confusion that wasn't his somewhere in his mind that urged him to continue. "You sound like the old King of Vale, like in the videos we've watched in history. Of his speeches from long after the war ended." With that thought, Ozpin flinched at the flicker of his nightmare and took a slow breath.

 _"I am the ki- or, I_ was _the king_ , _I mean. I know this doesn't make sense, I was confused at first too. But I promise you I am real and you are not crazy._ "

"Sure feels like it lately," Ozpin mumbled. "I'm talking to a voice in my head that is apparently the dead King of Vale," he said, sarcastically. "Yup, seems sound of mind to me."

_"You had a nightmare last night correct? Worst one you have had so far," the King questioned._

Ozpin opened his eyes, knowing if he kept them closed he'd only start to see that stained sand again. "Yes." He hesitated then spoke slowly. "I was… reading about the Great War last night and dreamt about it, the battle that ended the war. It felt so real." He shook at the thought. "I dreamt I was… that I was you." He dragged the thought out, like he was connecting dots he never wanted to. "I _was_ you."

 _"Yes. That was a memory, not a dream, and I am very real. I'm… so sorry you had to feel the pain for something I did."_ There was that sincerity again and a lump formed in Ozpin's throat.

"Then who- _what_ are you? If you're real, how? Why?" Ozpin had no idea how to word the questions he wanted to ask. He still wasn't convinced this wasn't just a horrible hallucination. But that nightmare, _all_ of the dreams and nightmares, had felt so much like memories it was like something was pulling him to believe it. Like he already knew they were but wanted to ignore it.

 _"I am the 'old King of Vale,' yes. I am also many others. A combination of countless men, living, dying, and reincarnating into the body a like-minded soul,"_ the King explain. Despite his serious tone, his words felt empty, like they weren't even his. They felt rehearsed and recited a thousand times over, and had a familiarity Ozpin couldn't place. Maybe he was afraid to.

Ozpin tried to find any words to say but came up with none. He wanted to believe this wasn't real, maybe he was dreaming again, but he just couldn't bring himself to write it off as such. It felt too real.

_"I'm… cursed, you could say," the king continued. "I have spent thousands of lifetimes trying to protect the people of Remnant. As you can tell, I'm not finished. And I'm sorry," he apologized again, never sounding any less like he meant it deeply._

"Salem…" Ozpin didn't know where the name came from or why a simply word brought him fear, but he spoke it slowly like he was testing how the word sounded coming from his own mouth. It was bitter and he felt a pang of sadness and anger that wasn't his. "That's who I- you were thinking about at the end of the nightma- uh, memory." Ozpin trailed off as the previous looming sense of dread became real.

Both stayed silent for a moment, the thought of her lingering in the air around them like a fog. Ozpin suddenly had a few new memories that weren't his; an ominous woman who looked like a grimm herself and that weird sense of familiarity mixed with fear.

 _"She_ …" the king paused like he was choosing his next words, " _I was sent back to Remnant to stop her. She wants to destroy Remnant, to divide us. She controls grimm and will stop at nothing to wipe out humanity."_ Another pause. _"And I truly am sorry, but I will need your help now."_

"I…" Ozpin's tiredness was catching up again even though all this information had made him feel wide awake. "I don't know what to say. I don't know if I can handle this." He spoke quiet and fearful, though he tried not to show it.

 _"You can. I won't force your hand, but please. I need your help."_ There was an urgency in the king's voice that made Ozpin shiver. Ozpin closed his eyes again, trying to let the breeze calm him like it usually did, but it didn't help much this time. There was a long silence. Ozpin wasn't sure how long he- _they_ stayed like that, but he was grateful that the king kept quiet as well.

"I know I want to become a huntsman but-" He hesitated. "I never asked for _this_ ," he whispered to no one in particular.

_"I… I know."_

"You were sent _back_ to Remnant? So you were here before?" Ozpin asked as that detail finally caught up to him. With everything he had just learned, it honestly seemed minor to question but he just wanted to make sense of something.

 _"Yes, a long time ago. I can explain that another time."_ Ozpin yawned again. _"I can explain more in the morning. Please, get some real rest. Since this… process, the reincarnation, is complete, you should not have another nightmare. At least, not as bad."_

"That's good," was all Ozpin could say, caught up in his exhaustion and the general overwhelming feeling from what he just learned. He stood up and walking to the front door, quietly opening it so he wouldn't wake anyone. He left his shoes by the door and walked to his room, which luckily was close to the front door. "You can call me Ozpin… by the way."

_"It is nice to meet you."_

Ozpin climbed into bed, hoping to sleep through the night this time. Part of him still prayed he was imagining all of this, hallucinating from exhaustion or stress or _anything_. A deeper part of him knew that he wasn't. He swore he heard another _quiet I'm sorry_ as he fell asleep.

Much to his surprise, he slept soundly that night.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it here, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed ^_^
> 
> This was inspired by how the literal first time we see Oscar it's him waking abruptly, like from a nightmare, and then soon after that Ozpin is in his head. It made me wonder if there's a lag time between when the previous soul reincarnates and when the two souls combine enough to interact. AND if so could old memories (particular the bad ones that are more vivid) seep into dreams during that time? Plus just my own experience having dealt with nightmares for a while now so it's possible there's just some super vague projecting onto a character I like lol


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